Everything you missed at KOTD’s World Domination 4 (Day 2)

Day 2 of World Domination 4 was another great night of battles, featuring a few classics with definite replay value. Like all big KOTD events, there was a contingent of assholes in the back, so a few battles were affected by an unruly crowd. Regardless, the biggest battles of the night found a receptive audience, and there were no wack performances from the big names, all of whom brought their A-games.

Once again, we watched the battles from the VIP section in front. The event popped off around 8:30 p.m. — which is probably a KOTD record for earliest start time — and it was clear that attendance was higher for Saturday’s edition.

PAT STAY VS ARCANE

David vs Goliath

The title match was significantly closer than most will admit. From the start, it was clear the audience was fucking with Pat heavy. For instance, the crowd went bananas after his first five words: “Arcane, that’s a hard name.”

And the NEW…

We could see The Saurus saying “It’s over” just barely into Pat’s first round. Pat also pulled out his patented scheme: “He mad right now. Trying to log into PayPal right now. He wants to get the mobile app so bad right now.”

Credit must be given to Arcane for making the battle close. His writing was impeccable, and without the surrounding drama, he might have had a chance. There was a small slip-up in Round 3 from him, which likely gave the judges their reason to unchain him. Either way, it’s Pat’s chain now, and the league is probably relieved to put the Arcane/Caustic/Dizaster situation behind them.

CHARLIE CLIPS VS HOLLOHAN

Overheard in crowd: “Clips has the best flow in battle rap.”

Even with a five-month delay for this battle, it clearly lived up to the hype. Hollohan had a solid performance with nice quotables (e.g. “I’ll break Clips apart like I’m Ebert & Roeper”) and brought some real talk to his final round. But for anyone who thought Clips would go light in a KOTD battle, you were way off-base. Clips was well-prepared and owned the room. (In fact, his material was infinitely more memorable than what he brought against B Magic.)

What people will talk about is Clips’ final round, in which he went after Smack for his recent vlog calling out battlers who turn in subpar performances for a paycheque. Apparently, Clips thinks the video was (at least partly) about him, because he said it “was a spit in my face.” He followed with: “I’m off Smack, now I’m fuckin’ with coke,” referring to Organik. Clips brought Bonnie Godiva in for a huge line near the end, at which point it was already a decisive victory for Charlie. KOTD would be wise to bring him for another event.

YOUNG GATTAS VS BONNIE GODIVA

Best female vs female battle yet

This will go down as one of the weekend’s best battles. Both MCs were ruthless in their attack and one-upped each other with each passing round. Also, it was full of quotables. Here’s one from Gattas: “You let every nigga mash — that’s why your pussy look like poutine.” And one from Godiva: “I’d give you the finger, but it would probably get your dumb ass wet.” The crowd was eating up the content, so kudos to both MCs for putting down what is arguably the best female-on-female battle ever.

REAL DEAL VS RONE

Real Deal in a Rob Ford/Biggie t-shirt

This was the battle of the night on Day Two. For those who thought that Rone and Real Deal would go light on each other, don’t worry. This was high-level white-on-white crime. (Lush called it “Tantrum vs Dumbfoundead for white people.”) Rone went at Real Deal for being “tech support” for Dot Mob, and for also being the lowest paid top-tier rapper (e.g. “How you got Deal in your name, but can’t negotiate for shit?”). Real Deal questioned Rone’s Philadelphia roots and made fun of Rone for not landing a job in journalism, despite getting a degree in it. (Sample Real Deal line: “You are not fly as hell, Rone, you just have male flight attendant swagger.”) In the third round, Real Deal went after URL battlers for ducking him (e.g. “Chilla Jones is the biggest mark to come out of Boston since Wahlberg.”). Our biggest concern is that after Rone’s third round, a sound guy approached him and said his lav mic (a little mic clipped to a person’s shirt) had come off. Hopefully the audio isn’t a problem, because this battle was incredible.

TYCOON TAX VS CORTEZ

Tax’s big moment

In time, this will be remembered as a breakout battle for Tax. Many people wondered how he got this shot in the first place. Well, we spoke with Organik, and apparently Drake wanted Tax and Cortez to face off. It was clearly a good idea, because Tax was more than able to hang with Cortez. (In fact, a lot of people will say Tax won the battle.) Cortez came with a boatload of solid name flips, but at times had trouble keeping the crowd with him. Crowd control was little problem for Tax (though maybe because it was his hometown). There weren’t a ton of quotables from this match, but both MCs did a fine job. The biggest takeaway, however, is that Tax has cemented his place in KOTD’s top tier.

ANYGMA VS J-PRO

#sesamestreetbars

Great battle between two vets who brought A-material. Obviously, Anygma went through an ordeal to reach Toronto, what with massive flooding back in the Philippines. Regardless, it was his best World Domination showing in some time, and he’s clearly earned the right to come back next year. His best material was a third round dissection of J-Pro’s worst bars. Still, it wasn’t enough to beat J-Pro, who took a unanimous decision, and rightfully so. His haymakers were heavy as always, and the references were on point. Here’s a sample line: “After all these punches, he’ll die from a choke like Arturo Gatti.” Also, he listed the countries that have occupied the Philippines, and said: “Filipinos have always been the victim of world domination.” Very cold stuff.

UNO LAVOZ VS PURPOSE

Uno slipping on Purpose

There weren’t many judged battles at WD4, but among them, this was the only robbery. Purpose took the 3-2 decision — and his performance was solid — but Lavoz owned the room and delivered his best performance in ages. In a large crowd, the biggest reactions are generally for jokes, and Lavoz delivered the best jokes of the night, as expected. He was clearly focused and hungry for this battle; it’s a shame the judges didn’t think his performance was enough to win. Sample line from Lavoz: “The best thing to come out of Australia was my dick in The Saurus’ ex.” Sample judgement from The Saurus: “Purpose.”

MIRACLE VS YOUTHORACLE

“Your name is Youthoracle…TIME.”

This was a disappointing battle. The crowd was hyped for Lavoz vs Purpose, and just 10 minutes later, they were rowdy and disinterested for Miracle vs Youthoracle. Honestly, most of YO’s bars were unintelligible from our vantage point — which was right in front of the stage — but it appeared he brought the same rapid-fire flow that’s made him a top up-and-comer in Don’t Flop. Miracle took the battle on a unanimous decision, likely because his bars were easier to understand and garnered better crowd reaction.

TANTRUM VS PROTEGE

You have to feel for both guys. The crowd was so rowdy during this battle that it was impossible to decipher any lyrics. In fact, we’d say the crowd reached its apex of awfulness for this battle. It could’ve been that Pat Stay, Hollohan and their entourage had just arrived at the back of the club, but the other issue is that both MCs were spitting complicated bars that, frankly, didn’t play to the venue. Tantrum was actually booed in the third round when he slipped-up, then proceeded to stumble again as he was regaining his footing. We’ll see how the footage looks, but for now, it’s difficult to have an opinion on this battle. We slipped too, and didn’t even get a good photo to use for it.

Also of note:

-Lush One is the greatest of all time.

And this happened on the way to the venue:

Mindbender making friends

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We’re at 31 interviews and counting (including Drect, Bonnie Godiva, Lavoz, Kid Twist, Organik, J-Pro, etc.) so you can expect lots more content from us soon. Check what we have already and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates.